The Sun's Wake
by XxChillyxX
Summary: Thor and Loki are summoned to go on a mission despite Thor's protest to his father. They mistakenly happen upon the wrong realm and Loki falls ill with only Thor to rely on. Set pre-movie (Thor). Short one-shot with Thor, Loki, and brotherly feels.


**Well hello there everyone. I'm so excited to post something new and different than what I usually do. I mainly dabble in the Devil May Cry section but I have been on a Loki rampage lately and could not resist writing a piece about him. I enjoyed writing this story because I love the Thor/Loki brotherly relationship. So, anyways I really hope that you enjoy this!**

***Thanks to those of you who reviewed and corrected me with the names/characters, I really appreciate it. **

* * *

He awoke slowly as the rising sun began to pour in through the window. The raven-haired man groggily rubbed his eyes before coming around. It was far too early, or perhaps he had stayed up far too late. Loki was hunched over his desk resting his body on his folded arms. Assorted papers were strewn about on the desk before him. As he sat up and straightened his back he gave a low groan and rubbed his weary eyes.

After putting away his studies he deemed it necessary to fully awaken himself from his dazed state. He hoisted himself from his seat and felt a wave of vertigo wash over him. Perhaps it was the blood re-circulating through his stiff body. He exited his room and decided to take a stroll through the castle to wake both his body and mind.

The halls were so familiar; his journey was second-nature. He had played in these halls for years, hiding behind the tapestries from his elder brother. The dining hall had been a place to have war games when his parents weren't watching. A smirk fell across Loki's lips in remembrance.

It wasn't long before he found himself in the pantry area of the castle where the meals were prepared, from the everyday mundane meals to the extravagant banquets that were occasionally held.

Loki still felt a slight dizziness, but shook it off as effect from sleeping too long hunched over his work.

"Brother, I don't usually find you snooping in the kitchen this early in the morning."

Loki's attention was snapped from his hazy thoughts to Thor standing across the room. The blonde had a glass in his hand as well as a plate full of food next to him. A large grin was spread across his brother's face.

"Unpredictability is the spice of life brother," Loki smirked at him with a grin.

"Indeed it is. Perhaps you should try it more often," Thor prodded back in good fun.

That was fair enough. Loki enjoyed a well-planned and articulate life; not many things didn't go according to a plan. Thor was the one who was usually all over the place; doing as he wished whenever he wished- a fool's paradise.

Loki followed suit and make himself a drink as well. He wasn't particularly hungry at the moment- the thought of a meal made his stomach clench a bit. A simple drink would suffice.

Thor continued to watch his brother, begging for an opportunity to pick a fight or argue about something- it was his nature. Although it bothered Loki to no end, he was use to it and ignored him all the same.

* * *

The morning continued the same as any other for the most part. Loki decided that he must still be tired, his body felt sore and all he wanted to do was relax for a bit. He began walking back to his room when he was suddenly stopped by a guard.

"Prince Loki, your father wishes to have a word with you sir."

The guard bowed at his greeting and graciously gave his message before turning to leave.

Loki mulled this over for a moment; it was not in his best interest to ignore his father's request. So, with only a slight hesitation he changed his path and instead headed to the throne room where Odin surely awaited his arrival.

Upon entering the chamber he saw both his father and his brother waiting for him. The pair watched as Loki slowly approached. Both he and Thor took a knee before Odin.

"Now that you are both here I will tell you of your mission," Odin declared.

Loki's brow dropped at this, he didn't know that he and Thor had been asked on any such mission. His gaze fell over to Thor. The blonde didn't look confused, actually elated it seemed. Of course he was.

"I need for the two of you to travel to Vanaheim. It is for a relatively political purpose only." Thor's face fell at hearing this, he had surely been hoping for a bloody brawl with one of the other dimensions or a quest for a lost treasure.

"There is a banquet being held there for those in high standing among the peaceful of the nine realms. Your mother and I have graciously declined as we have business in Nidavellir to attend to. So in our stead the two of you will be attending."

"Is that all father, a dinner-party?"

Thor stood obviously not pleased with their mission. Loki simply closed his eyes knowing what was coming; he almost pitied Thor and his rash decisions- almost.

Odin stood, bearing his attention to his eldest son.

"You will carry out the task I have bestowed upon you and do so with pride! It is an honor to attend a feast with those we are at peace with- you will do well to remember that."

Thor dropped his gaze to the floor and backed down. Loki gave a smirk and rose to his feet as well.

Odin looked to Loki and spoke, "Act respectfully and look after one another, I don't need your host, queen Vanir, to report back that you have disgraced all of Asgard with your manners."

"I assure you father, we will carry out your will with the upmost respect and dutiful finesse that you yourself would behave," Loki nodded to his father, his silver tongue at work.

"Good. You will pack and travel there this evening for the feast is tonight. I shall hear from the two of you tomorrow when your mother and I return from Nidavellir."

Odin struck down his scepter and the meeting was over.

* * *

"This is simply outrageous, you know that brother," Thor bellowed as he paced back and forth in Loki's room. The younger brother carefully packed what little he needed. "Father is only sending us because he does not want to go himself!"

"Or perhaps he trusts us enough to go in his stead and prove that we can handle ourselves in court," Loki replied back keeping his focus on satchel in his hand.

Thor thought of this for a moment, of course not admitting that he was wrong. Instead he simply huffed and exited, hopefully to begin packing his own bag.

It was not long before they were both packed and ready to go. Each brought only a bag which contained a few essentials, and their trusted weapons, nothing more. Anything else that they required would be provided at their destination. They headed to the Bifrost.

Heimdall was awaiting them; he was always at the ready at his post. The two were still arguing as they came to the tip of the bridge.

"We wish to travel to Vanaheim, we have business to attend by order to King Odin," Loki announced.

"Yes, I have been informed," was all Heimdall offered.

"Why don't you send us somewhere else instead, it's not like father won't find a reason to be mad at us anyways it seems," Thor grumbled. He clenched his hammer at his side with a tightened grip.

"I cannot allow that Thor Odinson, my orders are to send you to Vanaheim and nothing more."

Heimdall was stoic and did his job to a tee, it was an admirable quality that Loki admired and Thor resented at the moment.

The two princes stepped into the Bifrost and awaited the process. Heimdall set to work starting the reaction. Thor closed his eyes for a moment then raised his hammer as the Bifrost began to run at it's teleporting speed. He angrily hit his hammer on the ground.

Thor and Loki were transported but something felt off.

When Loki opened his eyes he found that he was on the ground. His eyes scanned the area and found that there was sand as far as he could see. Upon standing he saw Thor on the ground beginning to flutter open his eyes.

"Look what you have done brother!" Loki hissed at Thor in anger.

"Do you think that I intended this to happen," Thor questioned as he arose and patted the dust from his body.

"Actually yes, you love making a mess of things don't you?"

Thor walked to Loki and got in his face. "I do not make a 'mess' of things, I simply do things differently than you- which seems to make me inferior in your eyes. I regret nothing that I do and care not what others think of me!"

That was true; if there was one thing Loki knew of Thor it was that his brother was self-assured and paid no heed to his own mistakes. A reckless and childish quality.

"Well now we are here, wherever this is because it is surely not our intended destination of Vanaheim."

"Yes…I see that. We will just have to find the location of this world's gate and call on Heindall," Thor proposed.

Loki shook his head in utter frustration. As troublesome as that sounded it looked to be their only way out of their predicament.

"Alright then, you lead the way to the gate," Loki offered gesturing his hand out to the barren wasteland around them.

Neither knew which way to go but that didn't stop Thor from pushing past Loki in the direction he deemed 'correct' and trudging forward.

* * *

The landscape was that of a wasteland, hot and dry. It was incredibly hot and more humid than any weather they got on Asgard. The terrain was rocky and primitive looking; perhaps they were on a planet with no intelligent life. It may not even be in the nine realms.

They had not walked far when Loki felt a wave of dizziness come over him like it had that morning. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to collect himself. After slowly opening his eyes and taking a deep breath he felt no better.

Thor was marching on ahead completely unfazed by the blazing heat. Loki wiped the sweat from his brow and continued on. He was sure he felt off from missing breakfast and lunch earlier.

As they continued to walk further though he felt his breath coming in faster, like he couldn't get enough oxygen. The air suddenly felt so thin and he couldn't get enough. Loki began to pant and felt as though his body was suddenly extremely heavy.

He could see Thor walking a ways ahead of him unaware of Loki struggling behind him. Loki struggled internally for a moment of whether to call out or not. He decided against it and struggled on. Only a few steps later though he suddenly fell to his knees. His eyes wanted to close and he felt his body begin to shake. He blinked a few times before he fell over onto his side. He suddenly heard a far away voice call to him and something touch his face.

Thor knelt on the ground with his brother in his arms. His hand went to Loki's forehead, it was clammy and cool. That was strange, as hot as it was Loki's skin should have been overly warm.

"Loki, brother, can you hear me," Thor shook Loki to wake him.

Loki heard Thor and he answered him in his head, but opening his mouth to tell him suddenly felt like the most impossible thing in the world to do. He moved his hand and felt Thor's cape before it went limp.

"Loki, answer me!"

After almost jarring Loki from shaking him the younger brother's eyes slowly cracked open. His vision blurred and finally focused on the blonde holding his head up. Loki parted his lips and tried to speak to Thor before coughing. His chest felt tight and his breathing was still labored and harsh.

"Thor, I think I am too hot," Loki finally managed.

It did seem that Loki had overheated, but this confused Thor greatly. Sure it was hot on this planet but surely not hot enough to make a prince of Asgard faint. While Thor too was hot, he didn't find it unbearable.

Thor removed Loki's outer jacket and hoped that would help some. There was no breeze and the nice gesture didn't help much to alleviate Loki's suffering. Thor looked around the terrain; there was no shade to be found for his brother.

He needed to find the gate and take them home. He had no education in the healing arts and didn't know what ailed his brother to cause him to become so weak.

Loki closed his eyes again and concentrated on breathing in deeper. The deeper he breathed to try and take in more air the more his lungs and chest cried out in pain. His body began to shake and a tremor ran through his body.

Thor suddenly felt very worried about his brother, Loki was shaking uncontrollable in his arms. He stood with his younger brother in his arms and headed in the same direction as before. Where was the damn gate?

* * *

Thor continued walking with the unconscious Loki in his arms. Occasionally he would stir, his face would tighten and his breath hitch. His brother seemed to be very ill and in a lot of pain. It had all happened so suddenly though, Loki had seemed fine all day.

He decided to ponder that later; he needed to get them back home to Asgard as soon as possible.

"Heimdall, open the gate!" Thor shouted to the heavens.

He stood there looking to the sky hoping he could hear him. Minutes passed and nothing happened. Thor's gaze fell back to Loki, his face full of pain.

It hurt him to see his brother in so much pain and agony. Whatever was plaguing him had happened so suddenly, he was sure it was the heat. As he continued to look down at Loki he felt the tingling of the Bifrost surround him.

The next moment he was back in the transportation chamber of the Bifrost with Heimdall and Odin staring at him.

"Father, I, Loki-," Thor stuttered as he tried to gather his bearings.

Odin's face went from that of rage to shock as his gaze fell upon the unconscious form of his youngest son. Thor's brows were furrowed as he stood there holding Loki not knowing what to do.

"Guards, take these two to the healing chambers immediately," roared King Odin.

* * *

The trip back to the castle was filled with a tense silence.

Thor was now seated outside of Loki's room as the healers set to work on Loki. His father was inside with his father but he had been ordered outside to wait. He stared at the floor wringing his hands together in anxiety.

Inside Odin looked down at Loki with great worry.

"What's wrong with him Eir," Odin asked of his most trusted healer. She had been taking care of the royal family for decades and was a trustworthy soul.

"Well sir, he seems to have overheated and become very ill- due to his….lineage, it seems to have affected him greatly sir."

Eir looked at Odin with pity. Not many knew Loki's secret, not even Thor, Eir had been taking care of them all for many years and had been let in on the secret when Loki was still a baby. While she was privy to the situation she was unsure on what to do.

"It seems he has a sort of fever, but I don't know if we need to warm him up to break it or try to cool him down sir."

Odin continued to stare at Loki; it was hard to see him son this way. "Let us cool him down; it seems to be the reasonable thing to do."

Eir nodded and began taking the clothes from Loki's upper body off.

* * *

Days passed and Thor was never allowed into the room. The only people to enter were his parents and the healer Eir. It burned him with rage, but he was told Loki was in critical condition.

After telling Odin of what had happened he had expected his father to punish him severely, all that the king did was tell him he was glad he was safe and not to do it again. It was then the Thor knew that Loki really was very ill; it was bad enough that it even worried his father.

A week had gone by and still he continued to sit outside of Loki's room. He spent his time worrying and praying that his younger brother would be okay. Sometimes his mother would come sit outside with him in silence until she couldn't hold it in any longer and would leave.

The next day Odin was summoned to Loki's room.

Loki looked around the room groggily. His head hurt and his body was sore, but the predominant feeling was more tiredness than anything. He vaguely remembered being in the heat with Thor, not much else. He could breathe easier now, he noted.

A moment later Eir came to his side. "How are you feeling Prince Loki?"

"Mmm, tired," groaned Loki wearily.

Eir touched a hand to Loki's forehead; she then shined a light into Loki's eyes. The young prince winced and turned away.

"What happened to me," questioned Loki.

"Ahh look, your father is here."

Odin rushed to Loki's side and took a seat next to the bed. It almost amused Loki at how worried his father looked- he must have been in worse shape than he thought.

"How are you feeling son," Odin questioned.

"Still tired. Father, what happened?"

Odin looked away for a moment and met Eir's gaze. The healer bowed and left the room. Odin looked back to Loki.

"You fainted from heat exhaustion my son. You need to be more careful."

Odin offered nothing more. He had told the truth, all of the truth that he wished to reveal at this time at least. He put a hand on Loki's shoulder and gave him a weak grin.

Thor suddenly burst in the room with Eir at his side.

"Loki, are you alright?"

He hurried over to his brother's side; it was his first time seeing him since they had arrived back in Asgard about a week ago. He attempted to place a hand on Loki's shoulder.

Loki shrugged him off.

"Yes I am fine, do not worry about me brother," Loki offered.

He hated everyone hovering over him like a big ordeal. It made him appear weak and incapable, in his eyes; while there stood Thor unfazed by anything. And so it was, he laid in bed helpless and forever in Thor's shadow.

"I am glad you are okay brother," Thor humbly said as he smiled warmly at Loki.


End file.
